


Taking You There

by PrecociousChum



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - avatar!Zuko, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Diverges from the second chapter, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Gay Zuko (Avatar), Graphic Depictions of Illness, How Do I Tag, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 08:41:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24348169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrecociousChum/pseuds/PrecociousChum
Summary: Zuko is the avatar. And he doesn't know how to feel about that.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 174





	1. The boy in the iceberg, The boy in the water

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so, I usually don't post the shit I write but I'm bored as fuck and decided why the hell not. The first chapter is based around the first episode but it'll diverge from there! 
> 
> TW: Violence, graphic depictions of illness

The warship trudged along with the calm, freezing water with icebergs lining their path. The still nature of the ship would cease when bouts of fire would sprout from the deck. Here we see a young teen in red military armor and a ponytail. He heavily scared on his left side. Zuko the disgrace to the fire nation and its previous heir to the throne. He stood in a solid and tense stance as he’s surrounded by guards. The teen punches towards them in short bursts, pushing his fire in large bursts grunting as he goes.

“No! Power in firebending comes from the breath. Not the muscles. The breath becomes energy in the body. The energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire.” An older man would call from the sidelines of the battle. It’s Iroh, the dragon of the west.

The teen turned from fighting and spun around to the older man. “Enough. I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set. I'm more than ready.” The teen would yell causing a small nod of disapproval on the old man.

“No, you are impatient.” The old man stated sternly, “You have yet to master your basics.”

The younger teen yelled in frustration sending a burst of fire towards one of the guards. “The sages say that the Avatar would be in the south pole! He wasn’t seen for a hundred years, he could be a master of all the elements by now!” He clutched is hand in a fist, “I have to be ready.”

The old man lowered his head in understanding. “Very well. But may we stop for a tea break?”

-

A few miles away was a small canoe drifting down a stream holding two teens. One of the teens was a boy in a ponytail holding a spear above a fish in the water.

“It's not getting away from me this time. Watch and learn, Katara. This is how you catch a fish.” The boy said.

The girl, Katara, was preoccupied with her activity: practicing waterbending. The water sloshed in droplets, going down and up, and finally pulling up with a dollop of seawater holding a fish. Katara laughed with excitement.

“Sokka, look!”

“ Shhh. Katara, you're gonna scare it away.” Sokka hissed, “Mmmm... I can already smell it cookin'!”

“But Sokka! I caught one!” She exclaimed as the sphere of water floated above the canoe. Just then Sokka raised his spear just enough to burst the small bubble. The water splashed out and doused Sokka. Sokka turned around accusingly.

“I almost had one!”  
“Well, I already caught one!”  
“Yes, but we could have two if you could control your weird magic”  
“Weird magic!? It’s an ancient art-”

Sokka turned to ignore his sister when he noticed the stream suddenly change and drift their boat towards a packed ice area. “Katara, brace yourself!” Sokka yelled as he held down the items of the boat, causing his sister to do the same. The boat rocked between the ice, crashing into most of Sokka’s frantic paddling. Up ahead, there was a large spherical iceberg that the boat was hurtling towards. Sokka jabbed the paddle into the water, turning the boat so that it hit parallel to the iceberg, and cracking both the ice and the boat- sending the teens flying on a convenient land of ice floating nearby.

The kids landed with a thud and skidded ever so slightly. Katara lifted her head towards the iceberg with a large crack in it. She could swear that she could see a silhouette of something. She rubbed her eyes and- yep, there was surely something in there. She grabbed Sokka’s club that was attached to his back and rushed towards the iceberg.

Sokka felt his sister grab his club and looked up to see her sprinting towards the large mass of ice and sped up behind her. Before he could reach her, she swung the club into the ice, bursting it and sending the two flying backward as a gust of wind pushed out. Luckily they were not hit by the flying debris that shot into the air. Gusts of wind blew out almost sending the two flying.

-

Further away...  
The warship rocked as the waves and air ran through. The older man and the angry teen put down their teacups and turned to the direction of the blast. The teen jumped up with excitement.

“Did you see that?!” Zuko yelled with a smile. “Do you know what this means?”

“I won’t finish my tea?”

“It means that that search,” Zuko remarked “-is about to come to an end. Helmsman, head a course for the source of that wind!” Iroh groaned as he set his cup down.

“That wind came from a very powerful source! It has to be him, who else would airbend?”

“Perhaps it was a glacier falling, or maybe a cold winter breeze? We've been down this road before, Prince Zuko. I don't want you to get too excited over nothing. Please, sit. Why don't you enjoy a cup of calming jasmine tea?”

Before Zuko could protest, Iroh raised his hand and passed him a warm cup of tea. Zuko ceased his childish tantrum. The least he can do is enjoy some tea with his uncle. He sat down across him and grabbed the cup, warmed up from his firebending. Perhaps too warm. One small blow is all it needs and-

The ship makes contact with an iceberg, crushing and pushing the ice aside. The impact caused Zuko to blow harder than expected, blowing tea directly onto his uncle. He peeped up to his uncle who is drenched in tea then he looked down at his cup, surely it had not been that much. He looked down and- yes, it confirmed his suspicion, the cup is empty. Zuko turned the cup upside down and felt the inside. All dry. He turned to his uncle whose mouth was agape. The old man was steaming from the tea but otherwise with a kind smile on his face.

“I believe your search has ended, Avatar Zuko.”

Sokka and Katara landed on a floating piece of ice with a thud. From the remains of the iceberg laid something furry that started moving.

“Sokka come on! There’s someone there!” Katara yelled as she ran towards the now broken ice.

Sometimes he’d wish that Katara would be slower with judgment until he saw a young boy’s body lying next to the furry creature. He looked around twelve with tattoos and a shaved head. Besides the furry creature, who was now starting to wake, there was no source of heat to survive. How long has he been there? Katara knelt to the boy’s side and checked for breathing.

“I- I have to ask you something” the boy struggled, making Katara lean in closer.

The boy’s eyes fluttered open.  
“Do you want to go penguin sledding with me?” the boy chirped with a strange amount of energy.

Taken aback from the request from the odd boy, Katara responded “Uh… Sure! I guess.”

The boy cheers by jumping to his feet in surprising hight as a gust of wind pulled him up. Sokka, never seeing this, lept back in fear, almost sliding off the platform of ice they were on.  
“Ugh! How- How did you get in the ice? And how are you not frozen?” Sokka spat, poking the mammal with the handle of his spear. “And what is this?”

“I don’t know how long I was in the ice, but I’m fine!” The boy laughed and blew himself up to the mammal that was now completely awake. “-actually I’m Aang! My buddy here is Appa, my flying bison!” He said as he patted the beast which growled back in response.

“Flying bison? Flying feet into the air? That gust of wind?” Sokka speculated, “You must be the Avatar!”

Katara gasped in response.

“No.” Aang’s face dropped. “I was supposed to teach him. The monks said to come here for him.”

Just then Appa growled and huffed at something. Everyone turned to see a body floating in the water.

-

“You can’t stay here, Zuko.” The old man whispered.

“But I am not the Avatar!” Zuko hissed through gritted teeth. “The avatar is over there where the gust of wind came from!”

“The sages warned me about this, it is in your blood,” Iroh said to himself. “I can not let you get caught.”

“Whatever you say, Uncle, perhaps you had too much tea.” Zuko hissed as he got up.

“You cannot deny yourself, Zuko” Iroh stated sternly.

“I am not the Avatar! I did not airbend!” Zuko yelled back. He looked up from Iroh to see guards walking out from below deck. At least five of them. They turned to each other then turned back to the dishonored prince.

“I’m not the Avatar” His voice cracked as he said so. “I’m not- What are you doing outside!”

“All we needed is a reason to kick your petty ass. Plus, if you were the Avatar, there would be a hefty sum for turning you in.” Said one of the guards. Zuko started to demand that they stand down. The guards started to advance slowly. Iroh stood up and walked in the middle of the two. Then, one guard jumps towards the small table with the tea and launches a cup of tea towards Zuko.  
The prince raised his hands to send a bolt of fire back but then redirects the tea instead, landing the hit at the guard who threw the cup. He reels back at his sudden control over the liquid. The guards advance towards him splitting up to two groups to face the old man and the now suspected Avatar.

One sent a blast of fire straight towards Iroh, who redirected using the momentum to push the fire towards the guard, making him go flying to the railings of the boat, knocking him out. Over at Zuko’s side, the guards close in on him sending rapid flashes of flame towards the teen. The boy tries everything could deflect the fire, pushing the fire away or redirecting it. He tires and sends a flame towards the guards yet to no avail. All that comes out is a spark of light.

“He’s useless! Get him” One of the guards yells as he sends a shot of fire towards Zuko. Zuko jumps to the side and tries again to shoot a flame at the guard. Even less than last time. He looks up in fear and tries to push outwards, this time sending a gust of air towards the guards, sending some flying. He looks down at his hands.

“I- I can’t be doing this, this is some sort of dream I can’t-” Zuko was practically shaking at this point blind to everyone around him.

“Zuko!”

Zuko bolts his attention to his uncle, who is surrounded by guards. The guards turn to look at him to see him when they swear they saw Zuko’s eyes flicker with a faint glow. “Quick! Take the old man out- he’s going into Avatar state! If we kill him there- the Avatar will cease to exist!”

Zuko turned to his Uncle, one of the closest family members, and his face dropped in realization then morphed into his arrogant persistence. He’s not the Avatar, and no one should betray him. He rounds up for a fist of fire to the guards. “No, Zuko!” His uncle cries out in bullet-time. Zuko hurtles his fist forward. The anticipated fire turned out to be another bought of air, this time it sends Zuko flying off the boat. As he descends, he could hear his uncle yelling in protest echo outwards. Flames can be seen burning off the sides of the boat. Zuko tried to move towards the wall of the ship, trying to grab the sides in a feeble attempt to slow his descent.

Then-

Impact.

-

Everyone turned to the body floating in the sea. Sokka was the first to act out of the siblings, running towards the body and pulling it out. It was a teen, who looked his age with a ponytail and a scar going down his left side of the face. He looked pale and Sokka couldn’t detect breathing. He put his ear to the body’s chest, something to prove that the body is alive. A heartbeat, slow and weak but still there. Katara hovered over the two and Aang climbed closer on Appa to look from above, barely enough so he doesn’t slip off. Katara stepped back in hesitation, not sure to help or call for help or just combust. Sokka turned to Katara with determination in his eyes, something she only saw once- when her mother was taken. Whoever this kid is, he’s not gonna die under Sokka’s command.

“Katara, he must have water in his lungs, can you bend it out?”  
“I can try!”  
“That’s good enough.”

Sokka cleared the way for the bender to do her work. She hesitated for a second, then started moving her hands back and forward from the mouth of the boy. Her heart pounded as she felt the movement of the water inside him. After a few seconds, water came floating out in globs. Katara flung it away as the boy started coughing violently, his body seizing after every heave. Sokka ran to the boy, pulling him on the side as he violently retched on him. Sokka’s pants coated with vomit. Sokka let out a sigh of relief knowing he helped at least.

“Okay let’s get this guy home,” Sokka said as he patted the teen between the shoulders as he coughed. “Aang, I think we need a ride”


	2. War and boys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara tells Aang of the war, Sokka is a dude bro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna be a short chapter but I swear after the next chapter they leave the south pole.

The ride on Appa was short, yet they rushed to the village. The south pole was mainly bare icecaps except for a small settlement of snow huts near the edge of the ice caps. The settlement itself was quaint yet lively. The teens happened to add to the liveliness.

After rushing the fainted boy into a hut, the team decided to go penguin sledding (per Aang’s request.) When they were walking back, Katara decided to break the ice (figuratively not literally).

“So, Aang... we haven’t seen air benders in a hundred years! How long have you been in the ice?”

Aang looked to Katara in confusion. “What do you mean? I was in the ice for a day at least.”   
Aang contemplated his answer as if he knew something was wrong about it. His thoughts compelled his eyes to drift to the left to see a giant warship stuck in a pillar of ice. The fire nation insignia is brandished on its side.

“What is this?” Aang asked. Sokka threw him a concerned look. “It’s the fire navy warship, a big scar on our community.” Sokka lowered his head at the thought of the fire navy. His mother was killed by a fire nation soldier and his father left for the war. But he didn’t feel like explaining it to Aang. Katara looked to him, silently understanding. Aang looked between the two, both fallen suddenly silent, and came to the conclusion not to pry into the details of the ship. Instead, he focused his curiosity on the fact that the fire nation would even harm another nation.   
“Why would the fire nation attack another nation?”   
Katara turned to Aang, “You never heard of the war?”

-

The siblings both decided that Aang should learn about the news somewhere comfortable, ”homey” kindly put, so they decided to head back to the village. That and they needed to check up on the other boy. They decide to split the tasks between the two siblings, Katara catches Aang up on the recent news while Sokka checks up on the boy from the water (since Sokka insists that dudes stick with dudes). 

Sokka entered the hut 

The hut was humble yet scattered with skins of various animals. In the middle was a fire that seemed to have the flames growing and sinking as if it was breathing. Beyond the fire, His Gran-Gran sat on a stool next to the boy he had saved. The boy looked less pale but had a sheen of sweat on his body, which to much to Sokka’s surprise, was sculpted and fit as if the boy his age was a soldier. His Gran-Gran was taking care of the boy, placing a wet towel over his forehead, when Sokka came in. She turned to her grandchild with a solemn look. “This boy was lucky to have you two.” She said, wringing the towel she held. She turned and stood from the stool she sat on, brushing her parka down, graceful as always, and walked around the fire to Sokka. “You bring these outsiders to us,” She says solemnly “Be sure that they do not bring trouble with them.” 

She walks out the hut, ducking her head low for the short entrance. Sokka turned towards the resting boy gulping as he approached him. He sat on the stool, shifting it a tad further as to be at a “safe distance”. He was a boy, after all, he thought. Sokka hovered over the boy and noticed that his breathing has improved greatly. He might have been staring at his chest for the past ten minutes before turning to the armor to the side of him- might as well figure out who he is before he wakes. As Gran-Gran said to him since he was a little boy: “Outsiders bring trouble”. 

He stands from the stool and eyes the clothes. He never noticed it before but the armor and shirt were dyed red. Red for the fire nation. He spun around to see that the boy had woken up. Not only has he woken up, but he was also holding a knife staring intently at it. Then he looked up right at Sokka, gripping the knife harder. 

-

Katara and Aang sat on a bench outside the hut, each holding a bowl of stew. Katara’s bowl had been barely filled while Aang’s had gone cold and untouched. “So- you’ve never heard of the war?” Katara broke the ice. “No I never heard of it, the nations never do something like that.”

Katara leaned in closer. “Aang, the war has been going on for a hundred years,” Katara continued, “Every nation has been affected. The southern tribe lost all of its water benders… All except for me.” She fiddled her necklace in her hands, rubbing the surface of the pendant. Her solemn look was shared with Aang and a silence fell between them. “People say that the Avatar never resurrected,” Katara looked up to Aang. “But I believe that he’s out there. Somewhere... I believe there’s hope. Hell, I just met an Airbender!” Aang watched her frown turn to a hopeful smile. It felt, reassuring- him giving her some semblance of hope felt… nice. That was until Sokka came out flying


	3. Before you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit hits the fan, dreams get weird, Sokka still doesn't trust Zuko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this chapter is a bit rushed and I know you all came for Zukka so I'm *plowing* through this. Also, Iroh is not dead, you think I'd be that heartless to do that?

Zuko could tell that it was a dream the moment he saw his mother. She was just as he remembered, poise with thoughtful movement. From what he saw, he was standing behind her as she sat by the pond they had at home. He would’ve stood there forever, just watching her hum to herself while throwing crumbs into the pond. Oh, how he missed the sound of her voice. 

“You don’t have to hide, Zuko.” She cooed, throwing another handful of crumbs out. Zuko dropped his head, he knows she’s not real- but some part of him, a small voice echoing in the back of his head, believed that maybe she might actually be there. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. He sat next to her keeping some distance between them. 

“Mother, I- I’m a failure. I am a traitor to our nation- Our people. How could I betray them?” Zuko curled in on himself. Saying those words… He could feel a part of himself die. 

He felt a hand lay on his back. “You will never fail me.” He could feel the tears swell up behind his tightly shut eyes. “I will always love you.” Now any barrier that prevented the tears from falling fell. How could he ever really look back at his family again? He was a traitor ever since he was born. His father was right to banish him, to give him the scar, to reprehend him, to-

“Zuko, sweety, look at me.” The self-pity morphed into a burning rage. Rage? For his mother? Never, but rage towards everything, anything, to make sense of it all.

“Zuko…” 

He spun around, now seething with absolute anger. His eyes met his mother’s- Or at least what was supposed to be his mother’s. Instead laid a blank face. Not emotionless and unseeing, just a smooth canvas of skin with indents and a bridge where the eyes and nose should be. 

Zuko flew back in fear, falling into the pond. Only that it was not a pond- more like a loose fabric, tightly tugging against him as the weight of his body dragged him down. Past the fabric, he fell through to a vast sky, the wind blowing viciously against him as he descended. He moved his eye from the pale sky to his right where he saw a landmass, a cliff edge with crevasses on the wall. The crevasse held temples clinging to the roofs of the cliff. Like a camera, his perspective zoomed in on a platform and his descent slowed as if he was at bullet speed. He could make out a nomad, dressed in loose orange and yellow robes. His head was bald and his body was old. He was moving with a small child, striking poses as gusts of wind came from the older man. Just then the man collapses, coughing violently as the child runs to his side. 

The fall began to increase in pace, dragging him to the abyss into complete darkness. Zuko flipped himself around to see where he was heading next. As he fell downwards, a sliver of light appeared. Zuko braced for impact as he came crashing towards a sheet of ice. He emerged being lifted by a globe of water facing a young adult woman who appeared to be holding him up. The woman glared at him with deadly intent. The vortex of water sped as she clawed up her hands tighter. Much less to Zuko’s liking, his hand began to fight back the currents of water and lift his hand up. “Nini! Help!” Zuko heard a woman scream from the side. She was tugging on a child between her and a fire nation soldier. The woman holding Zuko up, Nini apparently, launched him towards the ground- hoping to knock him out as she ran towards her friend. This gave Zuko’s body, again, against his will, to strike. Out from his fingers came a column of fire that seared the woman's back. The parka caught fire as she let out a blood-curdling yell and fell to the snow. The contact with the snow snuffed out most of the fire but the body continued to burn. Zuko felt himself needing to gag at the sight cut short by a roar from behind him. He turned to see a polar bear a few yards away charging at him. He shut his eyes and-

He opened them to a battlefield, flattened with tanks submerged in the dirt. The fire nation flag, tattered and dirty, clung to the nearest tank- a marker for what happened. Suddenly something off in the distance moved. Again, Zuko’s perspective zoomed in on the movement. It was a boy, about Zuko’s age, kneeling on the ground surrounded by bodies of soldiers. He had raggedy, low-class earth nation clothing and equally messy hair and grime on his skin. The bodies of soldiers looked no better. The soldier’s armor seared onto their flesh. Smoke lingered on their corpses. The boy who lived sat up, and brushed off the ashes that dusted his clothes. “It is nice to finally meet you, Zuko” The boy turned to Zuko. His eyes tired and distant yet his posture open and welcoming. “You have been hard to contact. I can’t believe we finally met.” 

Zuko took a few steps back and clenched his fists. “Who are you? What is all of this?” Zuko yelled out with some cracks in the voice. The raggedy boy stepped forward. 

“We are you.” The boy smiled. “We are the Avatar, Zuko. I was the Avatar before you, but my time on earth was cut short. Your true potential has been hidden from family members by the spirits that guide you.” The boy held his hand out. “-But now, the stars have aligned and the air bender has been released from the ice. You must finish our destiny…” The boy let his open hand clenched into a fist, summoning rocks and sand to lift up and circle around it. Then it all clicked to Zuko as if a fog had passed. He could remember the face, the voice, the smell in the air.

“Lee…” The words passed through Zuko’s lips as if it were his last breath.

“Hello again.” Lee chuckled.

Like a flip of a coin, Zuko snapped out of his shock. “But I can’t be the Avatar! I am the prince to the fire lord! Heir to the throne!” Zuko yelled. He could feel the tears swell up. “I can’t be a traitor, I can’t-” Ok, now he’s definitely losing it. 

“You were always destined to be the Avatar and you were always destined to be the prince. Two can exist at once.” Great, now Lee is talking like his Uncle. “You will learn the elements and defeat your father,” Lee continued, “But you cannot run from this…” 

Lee turned away from Zuko. “We’ve been running from our destinies for far too long.” The battlefield morphed from beneath their feet into an endless void of space. Speckles of light flash around him as silhouettes of crowds walk in random directions. “I wish you luck, Avatar Zuko” And with that, the dream ends.

-

Zuko wakes, sweaty and frantic, as he adjusts to his surroundings. First, he could see a snow roof covered in various animal skins. Second, he could see that he was in bed with a cloth shirt instead of his royal silk clothes, and finally, he could see his knife, one that his uncle gave him, at his feet. Zuko, with much difficulty, pushed himself up- careful not to make any sound and swiped the blade from behind the body. He quietly unsheathed it, reading the inscription “Made in the earth kingdom,” No not that one. He flipped it to see the tacky inscribed aphorism. What is meant to be, always finds a way. Zuko always thought that this meant that he was always destined to be the prince, looking at it now, it’s new meaning felt only cynical. Was he always meant to be a failure? Zuko looked up to see that the body had turned. He gripped his knife harder. 

“Where am I?” Zuko croaked. His throat felt sore for some reason. “Where’s my uncle?”

The boy looked to Zuko in disgust, reaching for a club attached to his back. Before he could grab his weapon, Zuko jumped to his feet. Although, he didn’t stand for long as his legs were weak and he eventually fell to his knees. The other boy stopped in his tracks, caught off guard. Zuko pushed himself to his feet again, more stable than before. 

The boy again tried to reach for his club, more determined than before. That's when Zuko swung his blade, somewhat lazily and sluggish, towards the boy. The blade had missed, however, the swing was followed by a gust of wind, blowing the other boy outside the hut. 

\- 

Sokka flew outside the hut, skidding on the snow. Katara yelped and rushed to his side. “What happened?!” Sokka sat up with Katara’s assistance. “The guy is an Airbender from the fire nation!” Sokka said, calling more attention towards the hut. Their Gran-Gran, among others, started crowding around the hut. “Sokka, you’re making no sense!” Katara rebutted. Aang stood from the bench, unsure whether to help or be a bystander. Sokka’s expression changed from annoyance to fear as he looked ahead towards the hut. He shifted himself backward as the fire nation- Airbender came stumbling forward. 

The crowd around them grew to mummers. The children of the tribe pushed their way through the adults to see what was going on, with much protest to the adults. The boy in the hut’s doorway stopped in his tracks, leaning on the side of it for stability. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.” The boy claimed. “I’m just confused.” Sokka got to his feet, pushing Katara behind him. “Sure you are. You were pretty confused to take a swing at me with that knife!” Sokka pointed accusingly at the other boy who was still holding the knife. The boy looked down at it, a look of consideration moved across his face, then dropped his knife and moved his empty hands up.

The crowd gasped and the murmurs grew. Aang squinted towards the boy. Something about him was familiar like he was supposed to know him or know of him. Aang’s concentration was broken when a sliver of black came down at the corner of his eye. The rest of the people turned their attention toward the sky. Speckles of black were falling down mixed with the bright snow. 

“What is that?” asked Aang holding his hand out. 

“It’s soot mixed with snow,” Sokka said, grimacing. He turned to the fire nation boy. “The fire nation navy is near. They’re probably here for their missing soldier.” 

Sokka could remember the last time he saw the soot was years ago. When his mother died. When the fire nation attacked. 

Gran-Gran stepped forward. “You have brought trouble to our tribe, Sokka.” The wind picked up, not fast enough to be noticeable but strong enough to blow the soot around. 

“This isn’t his fault!” Katara yelled. “It’s mine! I saved him, I deserve the punishment.”

The wind picked up, now it was noticeable to everyone except the bickering family. 

“What! That’s bullshit! It’s my idea, don’t punish Katara- she only listened to me, punish me.” Sokka yelled

“Guys…” Aang said meekly. He looked over to the fire nation boy who looks like he is about to either throw up or attack. Aang couldn’t tell what’s more concerning. 

Just then, a rush of wind blew through the crowd, blinding everyone with snow and debris. Aang tried bending against the wind to try to slow it but it had already stopped. In the place of fire nation boy was a tall tan woman. The crowd around the scene fell in silence as Gran-Gran stepped closer. “Nini?” she said, “How-“

The woman raised her hand to stop the elder. 

“Kanna,” The woman said, “I have been the Avatar, unbeknownst to us. Please excuse this young man- for he just learned that he is as well.”

Nini turned to Aang. “You were supposed to help us. Amend that now and help this boy.”

The black snow began to rain heavier. Nini looked up to the sky then back down at Kanna. “Zuko is in much trouble being here. He must leave now” Nini spoke, her face became soft. “Kanna, how you’ve aged.” With a smile, the breeze picked up, and once again there was the fire nation boy. 

Gran-Gran wiped her tears, how long has she been crying? She turned to Aang. “What are you doing? Go!” Aang snapped out of his amusement and looked back to the sky. He had to hurry. He grabbed the boy, who seemed to be in a trance and ran outside the village. 

Katara ran behind them, followed by Sokka. 

“Wait!” Katara yelled behind them, “If you’re leaving, this is my only chance to go as well!”

Sokka grabbed her arm. “What? You think you’re gonna go alone?”

Katara turned to him in shock. 

“Without me?”

The group ran on Appa and with a “Yip! Yip!” the bison flew.


End file.
